


Those Emerald Eyes

by winter_storm



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Human Names Used, M/M, Oblivious Arthur, Rock Star England, Song Writer America, Star Struck Al
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9500735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winter_storm/pseuds/winter_storm
Summary: Arthur does not want to take over as lead singer. He was perfectly happy just playing his bass guitar and filling in the back round vocals. When their lead singer decided she wants to retire though he is the only one the band thinks can fill her shoes. Things become increasingly more complicated when their new songwriter Alfred enters the mix. Between writing music and recording it can Alfred and Arthur learn to work together? and where does their budding relationship fit into all of this? A whirlwind romance filled with music industry drama and waring rock bands.





	1. Liz and the Gems

“I won’t do it.” Arthur said as he slid into the rich brown wing backed chair in their manager’s office. He didn’t want to do this song and no one was going to change his mind. He didn’t even know why they were talking about this again.

“But Arthur darling it is the perfect song for you to step into your new role as the face of the band. We all know that you are the singer that will take my place it is only rational, and after I leave you will need a new song writer too since Roderick says he won’t write for anyone but me.” She laughed lightly at the whole group’s groans about having to break in a new song writer as it had never gone very well. “I know; I think it is absolutely ridiculous as well but you know how pretentious he can be.” She waved off their concern truthfully she was sort of excited to have Roderick all to herself at last. 

“I never agreed to take your place Liz besides no one could. I really don’t see why you all think that I should be the one to step up why not bring in someone new. We could be . . . well anyone and the gems.” He said fiddling with the black mask that sat on the edge of the desk near by. 

“Angleterre as much as it pains me to say this lapin you are by far the most vocally gifted among us. We all know that if you chose you could leave us behind and none of us would blame you, you would have a brilliant solo career, but we implore you mon petit choux stay with us for at least a bit longer we can’t lose both you and Elizabetta at the same time.” Those blue eyes that Francis had become known for shone out at him. 

“Fine I will step up but I still won’t do this song.” The irritated brit said crossing his arms and slumping down in the chair looking more like a child throwing a tantrum than a grown man with a huge fan base and more money than he knew what to do with. 

“Why not English dude it is a great song you said so yourself. Even I think it is awesome not as awesome as me but still awesome.” Gilbert said as he thumbed through the sheet music as if to prove the point to Arthur. 

“I know.” He said turning away from those red eyes that had always kind of creped him out. He found himself staring at the the silent lilac eyes member of their group. He didn’t want to talk about this again but it seemed the band was determined to get into it all over again. He sighed as he took in a deep breath ready to explain. “Just look at the title. Those Emerald Eyes, how egotistical would it be for me of all people to sing a love song about someone with emerald eyes? I mean it is basically a love song to me if I didn’t know any better I would think that is exactly what it is.” He said turning back to the group. “It isn’t even that vocally challenging. I’m sure one of you could do it justice.” 

The group all exchanged looks. Did he really not understand the problem with anyone besides him singing this song? It looked like they would have to explain it to him after all. “My dear lapin do you not see that if any of us were to sing it the press would have a field day saying that it indeed was for you? I know how you hated when they thought the two of us were in a . . . amorous relationship if you do not wish for that to happen again I suggest YOU sing it. In anyone else’s hands it will sound like a love confession to you personally and we can’t have that.” Francis said with an all too satisfied smile dancing on his lips. He had Arthur and they all knew it. 

“Fine. I still don’t see why Elizabetta can’t do it but apparently I have to step up. We should also inform this” He paused to look at the name on the sheet music. “this Alfred that we wish to use his song to launch the new face of the gems. We should also call up Antonio since he will be taking my place in the background vocals. You will have to take the upper notes Gilbert we all know that Toni can’t hit them. I don’t know how you expect people not to know the new front man was the former Emerald, but I hope to God you have a good plan. I swear if the tabloids some how link me with Toni because of this bloody song find yourself a new lead singer because I am out.” He stormed out of the room making sure to grab his black mask as he left. 

“He is always so bossy when he doesn’t get his way.” Gilbert said taking the chair Arthur had vacated. “You would think he was in charge. I mean he didn’t even wait for Lovino to show up he just left as if he is in charge.” Gilbert said. “Of course if I could get away with leaving without seeing Lovino I would do the same thing. I think we would all rather not deal with Lovino if we had the choice, but he should be happy sine Toni is joining the band now.” He said twirling his white mask around his index finger.

Elizabetta leaned on the wall going through the sheet music. “Do you think he knows your new writer; this Alfred Jones; is head over heels in love with him?” She asked taking special note of the lyrics. They fit everything the fans knew about Arthur to a tea not to mention a few things only the most devoted Emerald fan girls knew. 

“Hon hon hon” Francis had a bit of trouble stopping his laugh to speak. “My dear Elizabetta Angleterre may be many things but perceptive is not one of them. This song is nothing more than a love letter to our resident grumpy Britain and he refuses to acknowledge that fact and probably will refuse to do so until . . . well let us just say that we will all need to shove him into the arms of this fan boy and even then he will take some convincing.” He looked over his own copy of the song. “However it would be the perfect song to serenade to dear lapin.”

“You know he hates when you call him a rabbit Francis it just makes him angry, and I think we all want Arthur happy right now. If he changes his mind you are all up shit creek without a paddle. I of course do not have anything to worry about, but I would hate to see the rest of you screwed over just for a bit of fun.” Elizabetta always the voice of reason and the peace keeper among the group. She would be sorely missed that was for sure. 

“You make an excellent point Liz.” The amethyst eyed Canadian said softly. “None of us can fill in for Arthur without him the gems aren’t enough.” He said. “I just wish he didn’t know it or he wouldn’t be such a terror to work with.” He laughed a bit. Everyone looked at him as if they had forgotten his presence entirely. It wasn’t unusual for that to happen though. After a moment they all started to laugh with him.

“Why are all of you in such a jovial mood we are loosing the face of the group.” Lovino said as he stormed in. “Wait where is the tea bastard?” He said looking around the office.

“He already left.” Elizabetta said. “But we did your job for you he agreed to step up and do the new song at the final show of our tour.” She said with a triumphant smile. 

“I am impressed I thought I would have to black mail the tea bastard into singing that song.” Lovino said as he sat down at the desk to open the folder with the bands information. 

“Oh you have dirt on dear lapin do tell Lovino we always could use a bit of extra leverage hon hon hon.” The French man said batting his eyelashes at the angry Italian manager.

Mathew shook his head. “You know he doesn’t know anything you don’t know Francis and Liz is right you really should stop calling Arthur a rabbit or he really will quit.” Mathew said fully prepared to be ignored.

Lovino was looking angry at the whole lot of them. “DO you ever take anything seriously you bastards this is work not a party.” He said.

“Oh you are just angry because you haven’t heard from the awesome me.” Gilbert said. “Because Arthur is taking Liz’s place Toni is going to fill in the background vocals when she leaves.” He said with an almost evil looking grin.

Lovino fell silent and a blush covered his cheeks. “Why should I care about that.” He said but it was clear the way the papers shuffled and his face didn’t lose its red coloration that he was not as chill about all of this as he was trying to pretend. “Come on we have work to do.” He said as the group all took a seat and waited to hear about how they were doing in concert, and music sales, and what Lovino thought they needed to do to continue their upward momentum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know at least a few of you are probably wondering what is she doing starting yet another fanfic when she has so many others in the works. I apologize to people waiting on other fan fiction I promise I'm not dropping any of them I'm just jumping around depending on what story inspires me. Chapter for this one will be on the shorter side though.
> 
> As always I am looking for a beta since this story doesn't have one. I would appreciate anyone willing to point out mistakes I do try to fix them if I see any mistakes but I don't always see them so please help me out if I missed something. Comments and feed back are always welcome and appreciated. As always thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.  
> Winter-Storm


	2. Overture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred get's some exciting news

Dear Alfred Jones,

We are pleased to inform you that Liz and the Gems have decided to perform your song at the closing of their current world tour. As Liz is leaving the group we plan to have the new front man perform the song. We at Vargas Pulse would like you to come and meet with the band to discuss your song and the possibility of you writing more songs for them in the future. Attached to this document you will find a contract and a set of tickets to see the show in New York. We will also pay air fair from wherever you like.

Sincerely, Loving Vargas  
CEO and Manager of Vargas Pulse.

 

Alfred re-read the email several times. He had of course entered the contest to write the next single for the famous Liz and the Gems how could he not. They were one of his favorite bands and the entire reason he had started writing songs. It was true that I wasn’t until his good friend Kiku Honda had pointed out the contest Alfred put any real thought into writing music. It had always just been a way to pass the time like reading comic books or playing video games, but now with this email staring at him it was all so real. He was going to be writing songs for Liz and the Gems. 

He read the email once more after pinching himself just to be sure he was awake. He stopped after only the second sentence though. New front man? He of course knew they would have to get someone to replace Liz it was now common knowledge to the fan base that she was going to be leaving the group, but he had written the song for Liz and the Gems not some knew singer he didn’t know. Well they couldn’t perform his song without his permission so . . . He checked the attached contract and the two all access tickets. He quickly shot an email to Kiku asking if he was up for a trip to New York before he set himself to reply to the email Mr. Vargas had sent him.

 

Dear Mr. Vargas,

I am very pleased to know that you are interested in my song, but I can’t agree to the terms of your contract without meeting the person who will b singing my song. The song is very important to me and I always envisioned Liz and the Gems singing ‘Those Emerald Eyes.’ I can’t in good conscious agree to anyone else singing it without first meeting them. I will be happy to come and meet all of you in New York so we can discuss the song and the exact terms of the contract. I do not need money for the plane ride, but I will need some kind of accommodations for the duration of my stay in New York.

Sincerely Alfred F. Jones.

 

Alfred read through his draft to the manager a few times. He felt like there was surely some kind of more formal and polite way to do all of this, but he just didn’t know what it was. He had never been in this kind of position before. He worked in an office pushing papers most of the time he never drafted emails to big wigs in the music industry. He never wrote emails to anyone but his friends and even that was pretty rare. He thought about not sending the email for a moment. Maybe it was all some big joke, but no the contract and the tickets looked pretty damn legitimate to him. He took a final deep breath before he hit the send button and watched as the mail went off on it’s way. He couldn’t believe he had really just done that. 

 

Alfred,

I would be delighted to join to in New York. I must inquire why the sudden urge to go traveling however. I do hope you have no intentions to stalk Mr. Emerald while Liz and the Gems are performing there. You are aware all of their shows are sold out Alfred san right? I hope this is not some kind of scheme to try and see them as it would be very ill conceived if so.

Text me, Kiku

 

Alfred read the email from his Japanese friend. He had a very good point that if he didn’t already have tickets not to mention apparently a meeting with the band this would be a very poorly thought out plan. It wouldn’t be the first time he had tried to pull Kiku into some half baked scheme so he couldn’t say he blamed the man for being suspicious. He would have been more concerned if Kiku hadn’t been suspicious after all the Japanese boy was a master of reading the mood even in emails. He shook his head as he read the email again. He picked up his phone and wrote a hasty text. ‘Does this look like ill conceived to you?’ He sent to his friend before forwarding the email he had gotten from Mr. Vargas to Kiku’s email.

It took a total of about five minutes for Alfred’s phone to ring. He saw a cute picture of Kiku flash on the screen. He laughed. He should have known that Kiku would want to call him as soon as he knew exactly why Alfred intended to go to New York after all Kiku had been the one who convinced him to send in the song. He tapped the green button on his phone to hear the excited and very fast Japanese of his friend. “Kiku, Kiku, slow down you know I can barely understand it when you speak Japanese slowly there is no way I can understand you when you go that fast.” He said.

“I am sorry Alfred san I will speak now English I was just so excited.” He said in a much more controlled voice, but still obviously excited for the generally rather subdued man. “You really won though Alfred. I am so excited for you. I told you it was a good song.” He said.

“Yeah I know I’m just not sure about all of this though I mean a new singer? It was fine when it was Liz, but if anyone else sings it . . . Well I wrote it for him you know that I’m just not sure I can handle it. It would be like this new face of the band is serenading him. I just don’t know if it will work if anyone other than Liz sings this song. Do you think I’m being paranoid?” He asked. When he wrote Those Emerald Eyes it had been the enigmatic mysterious bass player only know as Emerald he had written about, but everyone knew Liz was devoted to the bands current writer Roderich Edelstein. They would assume that Roderich had written in about her or that it was about someone else with green eyes, but anyone else . . . There would be no way to disguise that it was about the bass player if anyone else sung it. 

“I think you are worrying too much Alfred san Liz and the Gems is a very big deal I do not think they would bring in someone new if they did not believe they could handle the material besides all of their fans knew that Liz was going to be leaving sooner or later. You are not actually thinking about turning down this offer are you Alfred? I think that would be highly ill advised and even so it would be very foolish of you to turn down a trip to New York and an all access pass to see them in concert.” Alfred had a feeling that Kiku wanted to see them as much as he did and that he would not be as positive if Alfred going didn’t also meant HE got a front row seat and a look behind the scenes. He couldn’t begrudge his friend the perks though. He had to share this with someone and there was no one he would rather share this with than Kiku. 

“Put in for the week of June the seventh to the fourteenth Kiku we are going to New York.” If he was going to New York anyway he was going to make a real vacation out of it. He hadn’t taken time off for a few years and he deserved a vacation. He wasn’t sure what his life after the trip might hold, but this trip at least was going to be fun he and Kiku would take in the town and get to see one of the final performances of Liz and the Gems before they lost their lead singer. He still didn’t know what he as going to do about the contract, but he was going to use those tickets come hell or high water.

Alfred spent the rest of the day surfing around on the internet to find a decent price on tickets to New York. Plane tickets here ridiculous. He actually considered taking the company up on it’s offer to pay the air fare, but he would feel bad about it since he could afford to pay the air fare it was just going to be a lot of money. He didn’t know what else he was going to spend it on though, besides if he did end up signing that contract he would more than make the money back from that one song alone never mind any other songs he might write for the group or company. That was a new thought. He wasn’t sure he wanted to write songs for any other group. If he signed the contract though any group signed to the company could sing his songs. His stomach turned at the thought of what some other artists might do to his songs. He would need to bring that up with this Mr. Vargas when they met. 

By the time he crawled into bed that night Alfred had put in for his week off booked two tickets to fly him and Kiku to New York and sent a quick email to Mr. Vargas detailing his plans for coming to New York and asking for him to email him a schedule of what would be required of him while he was there. His head was starting to reel again with all of it when he heard his phone alert him of a text. He glanced at it. Kiku had gotten approved for the time off. Just the knowledge that his friend would be with him calmed Alfred’s nerves enough for him to drift to sleep.


	3. You Stopped My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred finally get to meet Liz and the Gems and more importantly Emerald; Arthur Kirkland. Unfortunately for Alfred it doesn't quite go the way he imagined.

Alfred didn’t remember anything about the trip. In his head one minute he had been in a cab with Kiku on his way to the airport and the next he had landed in New York and in a black car with a driver on his way to some fancy place to meet Liz and the Gems before they had to get ready for their show. Kiku was chattering to him in Japanese. He wanted to look out the windows and take in the beauty of the city but his brain couldn’t seem to process anything. He could only take things one step at a time. Alfred was going straight to the meeting while the driver took Kiku to the hotel. Alfred sort of wished he would have Kiku with him since he was usually a calming presence, but he knew it wasn’t fair to ask if Kiku could come as his moral support. This music deal was about him and when it came down to it this was his decision. He would have to handle this on his own. 

He was still in a bit of a daze when he was dropped off at the large building. He wasn’t exactly sure what kind of building this was maybe an office? That would make sense after all unless he was mistaken Vargas Pulse was based in New York. He walked into the industrial looking building and smiled at the girl behind the desk. “Um Hello my name is Alfred Jones I’m here to . . .”

The girl smiled up at him. Her blonde hair was held back by a green ribbon tided like a headband that matched her eyes. She laughed lightly at his obvious loss of what to do. “I know who you are Mr. Jones. Welcome to Vargas Pulse. Mr. Vargas is running late, but the band is waiting on the fourth floor, conference room 7 and are willing to start now if you don’t mind having to wait for Mr. Vargas.” Alfred not sure what else to do just sort of nodded mutely. She smiled at him in and encouraging way. She slid a clip board with a sign up sheet across the counter to him. “Please sign in and we will get you a pass so you can go on up.” She said. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The entire building had been buzzing with news of the new song writer. Liz and the Gems was one of if not THE biggest group signed to the company. It was only natural that anything as big as a change in song writer was going to get a lot of attention. The band hadn’t quite expected the barrage of questions about him when they entered the building for their meeting with him and Lovino however. They found that they couldn’t even answer the most basic of questions about their new writer though. All they knew was that his name was Alfred Jones and he seemed to be very talented. They hadn’t really realized how very little they actually knew till faced with questions they couldn’t answer. Suddenly this meeting didn’t seem like such a good idea.

The entire band sat in the comfortable chairs of the conference room. It was called a conference room, but it looked more like some kind of artist loft with mismatched furniture and instruments and music all over the place. The band found it much more comfortable than sitting around a table in some fancy office chairs with nothing interesting to keep their attention. They had been traveling on a bus for months now they were not about to be stuck in one of the conventional uncomfortable conference room when they knew they could be in this one. 

“I don’t think this is a very good idea.” Mathew said his eyes fixed on Arthur in his green arm chair as they waited for the new song writer to arrive.

“I would feel better if Lovino was here.” Antonio said. He had been invited to join them since he would be taking Arthur’s place on the bass and therefore also be performing the song even if he wasn’t officially in the band yet.

“You are just saying that because you are sweet on Lovino.” Elizabeta put in. “I know what you mean though we have always been the artist part of this Lovino has always handled the business side. With Roddy it didn’t matter we already knew him, but we don’t know anything about this Alfred.” She said sprawled on a purple chair while she looked over the music for all the songs they would be performing that night.

“Hon hon hon but we do my dears. We know that he has a great affection for a certain someone with emerald eyes.” He teased his gaze also darting to Arthur. He had to admit despite his teasing he was a little bit scared for his friend this might be some crazed fan and despite the rest of them being pretty open with the press about their lives outside of the band Arthur had not.

“That is why I’m worried.” Mathew said softly.

“Don’t be so worried birdy.” Gilbert said. “The awesome me is here to protect Arthur if this guy turns out to be un-awesome.” He said grabbing Mathew around the neck. 

“I am right here I can hear all of you and I would appreciate it if you would stop all this worrying about me. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself besides you are all delusional thinking his song is about me. I bet that who ever he is with just happens to have green eyes it isn’t that uncommon a trait I would be more worried for Mathew if the song talked about violet eyes after all you don’t see those often.” He said as he practiced on one of the bass guitars that occupied the room.

“That may be true mon ami, but the song is not called Those Violet Eyes it is called Those Emerald Eyes do you really not see the possibility that this very well may be a dangerous situation for you? He very well might be obsessed with you Angleterre.” Francis pointed out. He wanted Arthur to take this seriously.

Arthur snorted. “I did think that he might just be an overly zealous fan, but I unlike the rest of you made sure to have Lovino do a back round check on him before I even agreed to this meeting. I doubt he will have any special interest in me but even if he does we all know how restraining orders work and we have excellent security I will be fine.” He strummed the bass louder than really necessary clearly indicating that as far as he was concerned this discussion was over. 

“British dude is not happy with us.” Gilbert said as he flopped onto the red love seat next to Mathew. “You don’t think he will back out of singing the song do you birdie?” He asked. It was not a new discussion it had been a recurring topic ever since Arthur had originally agreed to sing it.

“I don’t know Gil to tell the truth depending on this meeting maybe he shouldn’t. I mean I know Arthur can take care of himself, but something about this feels odd. Did you read those emails Lovino forwarded to us? This Alfred seems dead set on Liz being the one to sing this song I’m not sure he will be ok with the change.” Mathew made sure that his voice was low enough so that Arthur couldn’t hear.

Antonio had heard the whispered conversation though. He was usually very care free, but the idea that if things went badly they may be minus a lead singer just when he was getting his big break was enough even to make Toni concerned. “I’m sure it will all be fine; I’m sure. I mean even if he is hesitant I doubt he would say no once he hears Arthur sing it. I mean we have all heard him at practice no one else could sing that song.” Antonio said trying to be the optimist of the group. They all could back him up about the way Arthur sounded singing the song, but as usual he seemed to miss the other side of the coin. It wasn’t the song they were worried about it was Arthur himself; Arthur and this new writer. Even a blind man could see danger here and would be hesitant unless of course that man was named Arthur Kirkland. 

“None of us will dispute the fact that he sounds incredible singing the song I mean I doubt even I could do a better job.” Liz said having caught Antonio’s remark even if he hadn’t heard the whispered words between Mathew and Gilbert. “The fact of the matter is though if the song writer says no there is nothing we can do about it the rights to the song belong to him our job today is to convince him to sign the contract Lovino drew up so Vargas Pulse will have all right to the song.” She said. They all knew this but somehow when Elizabeta said it it seemed more important. The whole room except for Arthur, who was desperately trying to tune it all out, nodded at her comment as if to say they would do their best in Lovino’s absence to secure the song.

~~~~~~~~~~

The shiny metal doors slip open to reveal a short hallway with three doors. The one on the left read conference room 3 on a little plaque attached to the door. A similar plaque on the door to the right read conference room 5. Alfred couldn’t for the life of him figure out where conference room numbers, one, two, four, and six had gone but the large red door at the end of the hall had a funky print that proclaimed it to be conference room seven. Since conference room seven was his destination Alfred decided the mysterious missing conference rooms could wait for a later date after all if he did decide to become an employee for the company instead of just a one-time song writer he would probably get a lot of chances to explore the office building.

Alfred almost ran down the hall only to stop short. Was this really about to happen? He had dreamed of meeting this band for real and now here he was about to meet the entire group. In his mind he was always charming and charismatic. He would gossip with Liz, joke with Gilbert, discuss superheroes with Mathew, and laugh at Francis’s attempts to flirt, and then there was Emerald . . . . Every time he imagined it Emerald was the thing that always changed. He was the person Alfred found himself drawn to inexplicably, but he didn’t know anything about the secretive bass player not even his first name. No one knew his real name it seemed or at least none of the fans of course the band and the crew and people who were close to him outside of work probably knew his name, but all most people knew was he had known the rest of the group since high school, he was British; English to be exact; he had a weakness for a properly brewed cup of tea, and (in Alfred’s opinion at least) he was possibly the most attractive man to ever exist. 

He had never imagined he would actually be here when he sent that song in to the contest. He had assumed that the judges would take one look at it have a good laugh and that would be the end of it. He had won though. The way he understood it the band wanted to use his song to launch into a new era with the new lead singer. They would perform the song at the final concert in New York and then record the single after they finished their tour in two weeks. His song would be added to the set list and performed in the remaining stops on the tour and then . . . What then? He lived on the other side of the country. He could always just write music and email or fax it to the company, but they would have to fly him up and back any time he had to actually sign anything. That was getting ahead of himself though after all they may see some of his other songs and decide they just wanted Those Emerald Eyes and find someone else someone more established someone who actually new what they were doing. This wasn’t a career for Alfred this was a way to express his feeling to his celebrity crush without having to actually say anything. It dawned on him now that this might be his one and only chance to actually meet the band if they didn’t want to keep him as a writer after all. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned the knob on the door with shaking hands.

He stepped into the brightly lit room. This wasn’t like any conference room he had ever seen. The comfy looking hodge-podge of furniture and instruments strewn all over the place with the world famous Liz and the Gems comfortably lounging about in the room. It looked like it should be an album cover. Alfred wasn’t entirely sure there wasn’t an album cover like this. He knew it wasn’t one of their albums but he had a feeling that someone had once used this very backdrop for their album cover. If it hadn’t been done before he might suggest it to Lovino for the groups new album though he had to actually be signed as their official writer first. 

His eyes started on the left as they started to scan the group. “Hi I’m Alfred F. Jones. I wrote Those Emerald Eyes.” He said hesitantly. He was start struck.

Elizabeta stepped forward. “We’ve been expecting you Alfred we loved your song.” She glanced over her should for a moment. “I’m . . .”

He cut her off “Oh I know who you are; who all of you all. You are Elizabeta ‘Liz’ Hédevåry lead singer and face of the group.” His eyes moved to the next member “And you are Amethyst, Mathew Williams guitar, background vocals and shyest of the group.” His eyes moved over to the albino sitting next to Mathew. “You are Ruby, Gilbert Beilschmidt lead guitar, and the party animal supposedly but very devoted to Mathew.” His eyes traveled to the blonde with shoulder length hair next. “You of course are Sapphire, Francis Bonnefoy drums and the notorious flirt.” His eyes drifted next to a pair of mossy green eyes in a handsome tan face with messy reddish brown hair. “You aren’t Emerald.” He said mildly. He had just sort of assumed the final member would be there in the line up of the band, but this was not Emerald. 

Tony laughed. “Very astute. Si I am not emerald or not yet but I will be soon.” He said. He had a big smile on his face. He looked completely unfazed by the fact that this boy had no idea who he was. The boy looked a bit stricken, but held out his hand all the same. Tony took the preferred hand and shook it vigorously “I’m Antonio Carriedo.” He said with a smile. “I will be taking over bass for Emerald and take on his moniker.” He said. He pointed to his eyes. “See green just like your song.”

Alfred smiled. He had to admit the mans smile was infectious even if it wasn’t the man he had wanted or expected to see. “Not exactly like my song.” He said in a bit of a whisper when he let go of Antonio’s hand. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat this was going to be kind of hard to say, but it had to be done now that he knew it would be this man Antonio and not Emerald performing the song. “Well it is really nice to meet all of you of course but I’m really not interested if Emerald isn’t involved. I mean you all seem really nice, but I was already a little unsure about this when I was told Liz wouldn’t be recording it, but now without her or Emerald . . . I always imagined writing for Liz and the Gems but not like this.” He said.

Arthur scoffed under his breath. “Idiot.” He set his base down and finally went to stand with the rest of the group. He had previously had his back to the boy to everyone really and the rest of the band with their concerned for his well fare, were more than willing to let him fade into the shadows. “Who said anything about me not being involved. I am going to the one singing the bloody song against my own will and better judgment I’ll have you know but these wankers all insist I MUST be the one to sing it.” He sighed and held out his hand as he stepped forward to greet the boy. “Arthur Kirkland.” He said extending his hand.

Alfred extended his hand. It was visibly shaking. “E . . . Emerald.” He tottered a little as he reached forward. It was as if everything was in slow motion. He touched the mans outstretched hand and then his vision began to swing and he was falling as the room went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended to get this done sooner but ended up having a little trouble finishing it due to being sick so thanks for waiting patiently if anyone was. I will try to have another chapter out next week.
> 
> I still need a beta for this fiction (Any/all of my fictions really) So if anyone is interested in seeing new chapters before anyone else and helping me find/fix any mistakes I would be very grateful. In the mean time if y'all would just let me know about any mistakes you might encounter along the way I would love to know about them so I can do fix them to improve the over all reading experience.
> 
> I would also be really grateful for comments. I always appreciate kudos, but I don't know how to make things better or if I should just keep doing what I'm doing if no one tells me so as always thank you in advance.  
> Winter-storm


	4. Wake Me Up Before You Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does a world famous rock band do with an unconscious American?

The boy had straight up fainted. Arthur had managed to catch him before he hit the floor; barely. To his great relief as soon as they realized what had happened the other members rushed to help him with the young man. He was much heavier than he looked, but he didn’t look terribly light, he was already a good bit taller and broader than Arthur in the first place. It was really a miracle that Arthur had been able to catch him at all. 

Once they had maneuvered Alfred to lay on the couch with a pillow under his head they all sat on the floor to watch him. “So what do we do now?” Mathew asked staring Alfred. “He is out cold. I mean he shook Arthurs hand and then just bam dead faint.” Mathew softly poked the unconscious man’s hand getting no response.

Francis smirked in his friend’s direction. “Hon hon hon. Is that what you call no special interest Angleterre?” Francis asked. He was not the one to realize that it was Arthur who had caused the boy to faint he had been fine meeting the rest of them but a simple hand shake from Arthur and he dropped like a ton of bricks. 

Arthur rolled his eyes. “The lad was just star stuck that is all I mean he has just been flown to New York and he is obviously a fan of our work I assume that all of it finally caught up to him you know he hasn’t even been to his hotel yet this whole thing is probably a bit of an ordeal I would be ready to collapse as well if I were him. It isn’t like he met only me after all.” He did look at the boy a bit more concerned than he had been prior to the meeting. He did seem like a bit more than just a casual fan after all he knew everyone’s full name as well as what they did in the band and what characteristic they were best known for. He of course had just been Emerald, but that was because he had never shared much with the press.

Gilbert was right up in Alfred’s face. “Do you think maybe we should dump water on him that is what they do in movies to wake up people who faint.” He snapped his fingers in Alfred’s ear a few times to see if that would get a response which it of course did not. “I mean we can’t just leave him here. Of course it isn’t like he will be alone for long Lovino will be here pretty soon anyway.” He shrugged and went to snuggle with Mathew. 

Antonio cocked his head to the side to examine Alfred. “I think we should let him sleep he looks tiered si? Besides you are right I am sure Lovi will know what to do when he gets here he always has the best ideas that is why he is in charge.” He said with a big goofy grin.

Liz shook her head a bit. This was what she had to work with? They were quite a handful sometimes, but she had to admit she did kind of love these crazy guys. She would miss them but it was time for her. “Lovino is in charge because he has the money and the music label it has nothing to do with the validity of his ideas Tony and we can all attest to that.” She looked at the boy. “I agree that we should let him rest though. I am sure he will come around on his own sooner or later.” She said. 

Arthur sighed. “That is all very well and good, but we have to go get ready for the show soon and is it really ok to just leave him passed out alone in this conference room?” He looked at the unconscious American. He felt kind of bad about the whole thing after all the boy had been fine till he shook Arthur’s hand. Well he hadn’t even really gotten around to shaking it it was more of a soft brush fallowed by fainting into his arms, but still he couldn’t help but feel at least partly responsible. 

Mathew was worrying his bottom lip. It seemed no one was entirely sure what to do about the boy that now lay unconscious on one of the conference room couches. Despite his worry for Arthur before the meeting began it seemed after Alfred’s arrival everything had gotten even ore complicated than before. “I would say we should call Lovino, but he is already on his way here after his meeting with The Nomads it isn’t as if he can get here any faster if we call.” They should still probably let Lovino know about what happened even if it didn’t make any real difference after all it was entirely possible that Lovino could walk into a conference room short one band and occupied by an unconscious Alfred. That would probably make the already hot tempered Italian even angrier than normal. 

Liz once again ended up being the voice of reason in the chaos. “If we don’t intend to wake him we can’t very well move him anyplace else. As for Lovino . . . Mathew is right telling him what happened won’t get him here any sooner, but we should tell him what happened anyway. I am more concerned about what to do about Alfred though. We might have to leave before he comes around and there is no telling what he will do if Lovino still isn’t here when he does wake up. I mean if he were awake we could have just taken him to the show with us, but I don’t relish the idea of what might happen if we tried that with him unconscious.” She said wincing at the idea of how clumsy and cumbersome it would be. The group had enough trouble just trying to get the boy on the couch, getting him downstairs through the lobby and into a car would most likely be impossible.

Francis snorted a little to smother a laugh. He would have paid money to see the rest of them try to maneuver the man through the building not to mention the looks they would get, but since in their current situation he would have to help he agreed that trying to take the new song writer to the show with them was not a good idea. “We should check his phone maybe there is someone on there we can contact to come and get him, or at least watch him.” He walked towards the boy.

Arthur stepped forward and grabbed Francis’s wrist before he reached Alfred however. “Francis you are not reaching into the pants of an unconscious boy. The last thing we need is for you to be thrown in jail for molesting him. Besides I am not what one might call technically savvy, but even I know that everyone has their phones locked these days so unless you know his passcode, god only knows how you would have figured it out, getting his phone to check his contact list isn’t going to be any help besides he lives in California who would he even know here in New York?” Feeling the intent go out of Francis’s reach Arthur let his wrist go.

Antonio clapped in a slightly gleeful manner making the entire group turn to him. “We should write him a note.” He held up a pen and blank sheet of paper. “If we have to leave before he wakes up we can leave him a note telling him how nice it was to meet him, and that we will see him tomorrow, and to just wait here patently for Lovi to show up.“ The idea actually had merit. It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was certainly better than anything else they had managed to come up with so far. It would insure that Alfred wouldn’t miss the meeting with Lovino just because of a poorly times feinting spell and it was Lovino he really had to meet with after all. “Francis can write the note and I will call Lovi and tell him what happened.” Antonio sang.

Mathew managed to grab the pen that Antonio was holding out to Francis from his grasp. “Francis is not writing the note. I don’t want to even think of what it will end up containing if he is the one to write it, and you are NOT calling Lovino. If you make the call you will go all gooey and forget the entire reason for calling him at all. Elizabeta will call Lovino to tell him what happened and I’ll write the note to Alfred myself.” It was very rare to see the mild mannered violet eyes youth take control, but when he did they all knew better than to try argue with him.

Francis looked mildly impressed and waved his hand with a laugh. “You make a fair point Mathieu. I have a flair for the dramatic and Alfred is terribly attractive.” He sent an overly exaggerated leer in the boy’s direction. Mathew wasn’t paying attention though. Having bent to his task Francis instead turning his conversation toward Gilbert. “Sort of bossy isn’t he?” He teased the albino.

Gilbert laughed and had a very distinct smirk on his face. “That’s my pancake.” He said before walking over and wrapping his hands around Mathew as he worked on the note. The blonde laughed and lightly placed his left hand on Gilberts right arm where it rested around his middle. He gave his boyfriend a soft smile before he went back to writing the note.

Elizabeta had gone to the opposite end of the room to make the short call to Lovino being stared at by Antonio the whole time. She eventually relented the phone to the pouting Spaniard after she told Lovino everything he needed to know. He was not overly pleased with Arthur but since they both had a combative spirit they rarely got along anyway so there was no love lost there. 

“Do you really think he’s attractive?” Arthur asked the sapphire eyed Francis. They were both sitting a respectful distance from the unconscious Alfred watching him for any change. 

“My dear Angleterre the entire world will find him attractive once he is in the public eye. Those wheat gold locks, sparkling blue eyes, that blinding smile, and that is just the face the rest of the body is just as appealing. He will have plenty of admirers not as many as yours truly but we can’t all be me.” He gave a toss of his slightly long blonde locks which caused Arthur to scoff and turn away. He couldn’t help but wonder what the public would make of their new song writer. The music industry wasn’t always nice and the press was even worse. It would be a shame to turn this shining boy into just another dark and cynical song writer. Maybe if they were lucky he would be strong enough to stay as he was now despite what the industry did to most people.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Alfred woke up he was alone. He was certain it wasn’t a dream. In his dreams he never fainted when he meat Emerald. He was suave and debonair and swept the Brit off his feet. No if it had been a dream he would have done things much differently. He finally took in his surroundings. Yes, it definitely wasn’t a dream. This was the room; the odd conference room where he saw the band lounging and thought it would make great album art. If this was the room though and it wasn’t a dream where was the band? Where was Emerald? 

Not sure how much time had passed Alfred checked his watch. Well that at least explained why the band wasn’t here. They must have left to get ready for the show. He couldn’t fault them for that no one could have predicted that he would faint so it wasn’t like they had some kind of contingency plan in case that happened. Oh god could he have made a worse first impression on his celebrity crush? Still. He knew his name, and he was going to be the one singing his song, and he had been so much better in person. “And he probably thinks you’re a fucking idiot.” Alfred muttered to himself in defeat. He would just have to do better next time. 

He had been so focused on the people he hadn’t really taken a good look at the room when he first arrived. He now took the opportunity to really look around. The furniture was all mismatched in a very intentional looking way. The lighting was funky and bright casting different colors on the patterned walls. It was all the sort of style you would see in an artist loft. His main interest though was on all the instruments. Alfred played quite a few instruments himself it was why he was able to write a song for a five-person band so easily. He played both regular and bass guitar as well as keyboard. He wasn’t any good at drums, but he had managed to pick out something that worked well enough on his keyboard; God bless the percussion setting. Most of his instruments though were second hand and had definitely seen better days. He didn’t mind they go the job done just fine, but to be surrounded by all these mint condition high end instruments; he was like a kid in a candy store. He would love to play around with them all, but he had a feeling he shouldn’t. 

With a sigh he tore his attention away from the instruments to take in the rest of the room. There was a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin with a note sitting next to it. He looked at the paper and read his name on the front of the white sheet. He blinked a few times. Well he might as well read it; it was addressed to him after all. He unfolded the paper and started to read.

 

Dear Mr. Jones,

We are all sorry that we had to leave you, but as you know we have a show tonight and we didn’t want to wake you. We had hoped that Mr. Vargas would show up or that you would awaken before we had to leave. We called Mr. Vargas and he will be there as soon as is able, but it still might take some time. 

It was very nice to meet you and we hope to see you at the studio tomorrow. We have left you some aspirin in case you hit your head before Arthur caught you. There is a kitchen attached this conference room through the red door if you are hungry or thirsty. There isn’t much in the way of food, but feel free to help yourself to anything you find there. If you need anything you can intercom the front desk and Emma will be more than happy to get it for you. 

Feel better,  
Mathew, Gilbert, Antonio, Francis, Liz, and Arthur

P.S. Please don’t touch any of the instruments if you break them you have to pay to have them replaced. I speak from experience.   
A.K.

 

It seemed that Mathew had been the one to actually write the note and everyone else just signed their name, except for the post script. It was signed A.K. Arthur Kirkland. He couldn’t remember too much about the past twenty-four hours or so but he was pretty sure he would never forget the name Arthur Kirkland as long as he lived. Alfred really hoped he didn’t do anything else stupid tomorrow. Well Mr. Vargas said he would clear Kiku to go with him so that should be helpful. 

Alfred’s fingers were just starting to twitch towards one of the instruments despite the warning from Arthur when he heard the door open. He turned to see a short brown eyes brown eyes man with a very irritated look on his face. “So you fainted when you met the tea bastard. Well done dumb ass.” 

The man had an Italian accent. Surely this wasn’t Mr. Vargas. If it was he was much nicer through email than in person. Of course lots of people were different online. He had seen Catfish he knew how it worked. This was nothing like Catfish of course, but the basic idea still held up. “Um I didn’t do it on purpose.” He said rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m Alfred F. Jones.” He held out his hand to the man.

“I know. I’m Lovino Vargas.” The short Italian said shaking the hand fast and dropping it. “Now sit down Jones the sooner we get this fucking paperwork done the sooner I can get to the show and the sooner you can sleep off the shell shock.” He sat at the table and pulled out a large stack of papers. Alfred couldn’t imagine that they would be leaving anytime soon if they had to go through all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am opening this up to prompts. I have a basic direction for this story and an idea of where it is going, but I would love to incorporate some of your ideas or maybe even do a spin off or companion piece to this where I can post answers to prompts or question in the same verse since I am enjoying this verse a lot. If you have a prompt please leave it in the comments below. If you don't have a prompt I still would love to hear feedback good or bad. I hope you all enjoy this silly little installment.  
> Winter-Storm


	5. Singing In My Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred hopes to make a better impression the second time he meets with the band.

Chapter 5: Singing in My Head

It had taken well over an hour to go through all the basic paperwork and there was still an insane amount of smaller contracts and agreements to get settled. It took Alfred at least another forty-five minutes to reach his hotel. He had never quite understood why people in New York were so incredibly fond of taking the subway until he realized exactly how long it took to get anywhere by car in this place. He would need to get a subway map for the rest of his stay in the city. 

When he entered the hotel suite he would be sharing with Kiku, he found his Japanese friend elbows deep in merchandise and treats. “What the hell did you do Kiku buy one of everything in the hotel gift shop?” He asked coming to sit by his friend on the sofa in the living area of the suite. 

Kiku laughed a bit with a large smile. “I am sorry Alfred it is for you, but you weren’t here and I didn’t know when you would be.” He said leaning away from the assorted items. With a second look, Alfred noticed that a good chunk of it was actually Liz and the Gems merchandise. Well, that made a difference. Despite his exhaustion, Alfred soon found himself just as deep in the mountain of merchandise as his friend both of them sifting through it all as they sat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

It wasn’t till several minutes later that Alfred’s head caught up with him. “Wait a minute Kiku where did all of this even come from?” He asked pausing as he looked over the table. There had to be some kind of explanation. He was as big a fan of Liz and the Gems as the next guy, but even he wouldn’t have known where to find half of this stuff.

Kiku did his best not to laugh at his friend’s confusion. He did a fairly good job of it to considering how ridiculous Alfred looked with that look of bewilderment on his face. Kiku disappeared into one of the bedrooms and return quickly with an envelope. He handed it to Alfred with a wide smile. Kiku had dived into the gifts but he hadn’t opened the envelope so he was just as anxious to see what was inside as Alfred. In fact, he was probably more anxious as he had been waiting for a few hours for Alfred to return to find out what was in the envelope.

Alfred took the envelope. His name was printed on the front in neat font ‘Alfred F. Jones’ Well it was clearly for him. He had been getting quite a few notes today it seemed. He felt in his pocket for the clean sheet of white paper the band had left for him when he woke up. He felt the pliable texture with a slight thrill. The feel of the note gave him the little bolster of courage to open the envelope he now held. It was heavy much heavier than he would have thought. His fingers shaking slightly, he tore it open and upended it over the table in front of them. To his surprise, five items fell out of the envelope. His vision zeroed in on the paper that fluttered out which he assumed held the explanations he was looking for. He was just unfolding it to read when he heard an all too fan-girly squeal from his normally reserved friend.

The sound startled Alfred causing him to look over at Kiku. His Asian friend was brandishing at him what else had been in the envelope. It took a minute to focus on what the Asian held since he kept waving his hands back and forth frantically. In one hand were clutched a pair of tickets for tomorrow’s show and in the other were a pair of little laminated cards which from Kiku’s chatter Alfred realized were full access backstage passes. None of this was real it couldn’t be. He shook the note open frantically to scan it. 

Dear Mr. Jones,

I hope you enjoy your stay here in New York. We have taken the liberty of sending you a few gifts to welcome you to the label and your new position as the writer for the new face of the band. We have also sent you two tickets and backstage passes to tomorrow’s show.  
You have a meeting scheduled with Lovino Vargas and Liz and the Gems to discuss the finer details of the contract and your future with the company at 11:00 AM tomorrow at the recording studio. A car will be sent to pick you and Mr. Honda up at 10:30 sharp.   
We hope to see you tomorrow morning. Welcome to Vargas Pulse Mr. Jones.

The note was a bit abrupt and odd, but at least it explained where all the gifts had come from. Unfortunately, Alfred felt as if he might faint again after reading the note. He instead just sort of collapsed onto the small couch in the sitting area of the suite. It was finally starting to hit him that this was all happening. His life would never be the same. He looked up at his friend. Kiku stopped his enthusiastic examination of the tickets and backstage passes at Alfred’s look. The blonde had a pleading almost desperate look marring his usually cheerful face. “What am I going to do, Kiku?” He asked. “This isn’t my world. I’m just a normal guy from Texas with a boring office job. This is . . . I don’t even know if this is a dream or a nightmare.” 

To his credit, Kiku was the perfect best friend. He set down the tickets and backstage passes devoting all his attention to his distressed friend. He pulled Alfred up by his arm and lead him into one of the large bedrooms. “It will be ok Alfred kun. You just need to sleep and what will happen tomorrow can wait until tomorrow.” It was a rather odd and blunt notion, but it did put Alfred at ease enough for him to drift off still in his suit from earlier. Kiku turned off the light as his friend drifted into oblivion. He could only hope that he was right and that Alfred would feel better after a good nights sleep because when it came down to it there wasn’t much else Kiku could do for his friend after all this wasn’t his world either.

~~~~~~~~~~

The night was pretty uneventful after Alfred fell asleep. Kiku had stayed up continuing to sort and categorize all of their goodies from the company before drifting to his own bed in a bit of a heady daze from all the excitement building in him. 

For his part, Alfred was tossing and turning stuck in a fitful dream of flashing lights and spinning colors in which the only constant was a pair of piercing green eyes. It was not a peaceful sleep for the young man, but it was at least sleep and he did get several hours of it. He woke up several hours later a bit disoriented and searching for green eyes that weren’t there. He felt better after a warm shower and a clean change of clothes. 

He was a bit surprised to see Kiku sitting out in the living room when he entered. He should have known Kiku would be up and ready to go. Alfred was the one who always had trouble getting up in the morning. He had to admit that he had sort of thought that Kiku would suffer at least a little from jet lag but it seemed his friend was just as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as usual. “You did not sleep well.” It was a statement, not a question. Kiku could see it in his friend. He did look better than he had last night, but he didn’t look well rested. “It will be alright Alfred-san,” Kiku said laying a calming hand on his shoulder. Alfred didn’t know why but just having Kiku around always helped calm him.

Alfred was just trying to figure out how the in room coffee machine worked when there was a knock on their door. Kiku smirked and motioned for Alfred to answer it. In a few moments, the two men were sitting at the roll in the table with a wide array of breakfast fare for them to choose from. Kiku smiled at Alfred’s face as he took in the feast. “I took the liberty of ordering us breakfast since you have a tendency to oversleep and no one needs to see you on an empty stomach.” Kiku was a life saver. If Alfred could salvage the terrible impression, he made with the band last night he wouldn’t succeed in doing so on an empty stomach that was for sure. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The company had sent not just a car but a limo. Alfred would have happily taken the subway, but since he had never actually been in a limo he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to ride in one. Kiku didn’t seem as excited about the limo, but he hadn’t been with Alfred the day before so this was his first chance to meet the band and he was clearly excited about meeting them. He looked every bit the excited fan with his band tee-shirt and camera at the ready. Alfred couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s enthusiasm. Kiku’s excitement helped Alfred forget about his own fear at seeing his celebrity crush again. The closer they got to the studio though the harder it was to forget that inside those walls was Arthur Kirkland, Emerald. As his stomach started to churn with the anxiety he had the vague thought that maybe he shouldn’t have had quite as much to eat for breakfast.

They arrived at the studio with seven minutes to spare. It was a good thing too. Between Kiku snapping pictures every two steps, an entirely too complicated floor plan, and lack of a map it took them all seven minutes plus two more to find Lovino’s office. The Italian was not happy to be kept waiting even if it was for only two minutes. Still, it wasn’t like Lovino ever seemed to be in a good mood so his irritated expression wasn’t terribly surprising to Alfred. Kiku, however, couldn’t help but have a moment of pause at the sour expression on Lovino’s face. The whole situation was defused however by Alfred’s booming laughter at Kiku’s worried expression. “Don’t worry dude he always looks like that. It seemed this put everyone at ease. Despite still looking rather put out about having to wait for Lovino was not any ruder or more foul tempered than he had been the day before. 

Kiku was allowed to look around while Alfred and Lovino worked out the details of the contract. The contract meant little to Kiku anyways he was more just along for the ride. He had to admit though that from all of the plaques and awards that adorned the walls and shelves it seemed his friend was in good hands here at Vargas Pulse. 

It seemed that the band planned to perform his song at their closing performance in New York and finish up recording the fallowing week so the song could drop the single to coincide with the announcement that Arthur would be taking over as lead singer. It sounded like a brilliant plan from a promotional standpoint. Everyone would hear about Arthur taking over vocals and rush to get the new single to hear him sing. Alfred had to admit that as a fan he would do the same thing. All of this was simple enough and he couldn’t possibly have any kind of problem with any of that. It was the part of the contract that talked about his future with the company that gave him a bit of worry. He wanted to write for Liz and the Gems, well Arthur and the Gems now, well Arthur; he wanted to write for Arthur, but this contract the way it was now the songs weren’t the property of the band they were the property of Vargas Pulse and that meant that they could record it with any group signed with them. Still though the chance to write more songs for Arthur was very tempting. He supposed that it was actually a benefit if his songs didn’t have to be for the gems it gave him more creative freedom, but he still couldn’t help but hesitate. In the end, he and Lovino decided that he would just send in some of his other songs and they would proceed from there. After all, Alfred’s other songs might not be any good anyway. They made a few other minor amendments to the contract and printed up a new copy for Alfred to sign. Lovino added his signature and Kiku signed as a witness now they just needed to band to sign it and the wheels would be turning.

Lovino stood up from his desk gathering the stack of papers. “Come on the band is in the recording studio they are laying down a few practice tracks to your song to test out the levels on everything and to run Antonio through the whole process.” He said walking out of the office and down a winding hall that opened onto several sets of rooms. It seemed the building actually held many recording studios and why shouldn’t it Vargas Pulse certainly had enough artists signed to them to fill the multiple studios.

Alfred had never been in a real recording studio before. The closest being when they installed that stupid discount recording booth in the local music store back when he was in high school. The thing had never really paid for itself and it was taken out about a year later. When it came to the demo of Those Emerald Eyes he would have loved to work with an actual recording studio, but had ended up just doing all of it on his computer. He was curious how his song would sound without all of the feedback from all the layering he had to do. He told himself that was what he wanted to hear, but he really just wanted to hear Arthur. Their entire interaction had consisted of maybe two sentences in which he had only managed to stutter out one word to the man and yet he felt quite certain he could listen to Arthur read the phonebook and still be mesmerized. 

They walked into the booth separated from the band by a darkly tinted glass. Alfred was glad that the band couldn’t see him he didn’t really need to have the band members staring at him while they practiced his song. He was shaking with nerves just because of the fact that his idol was about to record one of his songs. He really didn’t need for said idol to see him lose it all over again after all he was certain the image of him dropping like a ton of bricks in a dead faint was still fresh in the guy’s mind. He had to admit that even if it wasn’t the best first impression at least it would be a lasting impression no one would forget that anytime soon. He was shaken from his memory of the encounter by Kiku slapping him lightly in excitement. The Japanese man had pinched himself at least a few times just to make sure and finally have decided that he was not dreaming had a huge smile splitting his face as he watched the band with his face nearly pressed up against the glass. 

Lovino laughed at Kiku’s actions. “I suppose he is as big a fan as you, Alfred.” He said as he grabbed a pair of headphone for each of them so they could hear what the band heard. They were tuning up at the moment so there was nothing to hear just yet. 

Alfred giggled a little at Kiku’s antics as well. “He is a pretty big fanboy, but when it comes to Liz and the Gems I’m afraid I’m the ultimate fan.” He confessed. He laughed after a minute. “Actually if you really want to see Kiku in full-on fanboy mode you would need to see his reaction to Two Points and an Axis he adores them though I’m not sure why they have never been my cup of tea,” Alfred said with a mild shrug looking down at the floor when he felt Kiku’s eyes piercing his head as if to say how dare you.

Lovino shook his head. “Oh yes, my brother and the potato bastard.” He let out a long suffering sigh. “I must admit I don’t quite get it either, but they do rather well with Ludwig’s strong work ethic and Fratello's unwavering enthusiasm, and of course we get quite a few squealing fangirls for them because of how affectionate they are towards each other in public.” He said making a face. “I do wish Fratello would at least try to restrain himself sometimes though.” It seemed that Liz and the Gems were not the only big name on the label managed by Lovino. Alfred had to wonder if it was his brother’s musical ambitions that had pushed Lovino into the music producing business in the first place. Alfred could easily see that having happened especially since Lovino didn’t seem to be a natural people person and there seemed to be a good deal of people skills that would help in his chosen profession so it had seemed like an odd choice. Any other thoughts on Lovino and his brother were cut off at the band gave a thumbs up to the studio. Alfred, Kiku, Lovino and a friendly looking brunette running the sound board all put on their headphones. The brunette pressed a button turned a few dials before he gave a thumbs up to Lovino. The Italian, in turn, pushed a little button with a picture of a microphone on it allowing him to talk to the band on the other side of the glass. “Whenever you are ready guys.” He said.

The band gave another thumbs up at the booth after Lovino spoke. Alfred looked at all the faces on the other side of the glass. There was Elizabeta off to one side. He wondered why she was there at all, but it wasn’t as if she had left the band yet so she had as much right to be there as anyone else. Antonio stood with a ridiculously large grin a bass sitting low across his waist. Alfred couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t the one Arthur was often portrayed using. Gilbert and Mathew stood back to back sharing a microphone in front of them and each doing a final check on their respective guitars. Mathew’s guitar was emblazoned with a red maple leaf and was held by a strap adorned with polar bears. Gilbert's entire guitar had a bird motif about to it. The images of fluffy birds adorning his guitar were so ironic to the rest of his look and his personality it was almost comical, but fans of the band were used to it by now and it was expected. Francis was looking impeccably quaffed as always as he sat behind the drum set. He took a deep breath and raised his drumsticks over his head to count them off. 

This was it. His song was about to be recorded in a real studio by a real band by Emerald. No, by Arthur. Alfred’s breath caught in his throat. His vision zeroed in on the bright green eyes in a slightly disgruntled looking face. His hair was just as messy as always; apparently, that was just the way his hair was and not some carefully constructed look to appear rumpled. He was dressed casually and had his trademark union jack patterned bass sitting across his back. Alfred had to wonder why he had it since he wouldn’t be playing it for the song. It seemed odd to be carrying it but not playing it. Maybe if he didn’t totally embarrass himself he would get a chance to ask Arthur about it later. Arthur stepped up to the large main microphone. He looked over his shoulder at Francis to count them off.

“One, Two, One, Two, Three, Four!” Each count was punctuated by a tap of Francis’s drumsticks together. As surreal as everything had felt up to this point nothing prepared Alfred for the almost outer-body experience he felt as the rolling drum lead into the song came to him through the headphones. His world condensed to nothing but a pair of bright green eyes unknowingly staring at him through the glass and the music pumping into his head through the headphones. Despite all of the amazing things he had experienced since he got that email from Lovino this was by far the hardest thing for him to really believe was happening. Something about the experience felt both unreal and too real at the same time. 

It wasn’t until the other instruments joined the song and the lyrics were about to start that Alfred realized he had never heard Arthur sing alone. Emerald always did backup vocals, but that meant that he had always sung with or behind Liz. He had a terrifying moment where he feared that maybe Arthur wouldn’t be able to sing the song after all. Maybe they would bring in someone else, maybe Liz would sing it, after all, maybe they would give it to one of the other band members, maybe they would scrap the song altogether. There was a myriad of possibilities rolling around in his head all of which were ridiculous under the circumstances since the room in front of him said that plans hadn’t changed. Finally, a melodious slightly accented and deeper than expected voice pierced through the headphones cutting off all rational, and irrational, thought. He was amazing. His voice was deeper than Alfred expected but the notes were crisp and clear and you could understand every word perfectly. Alfred liked Liz just fine but he couldn’t for the life of him understand how she had done all of the singing when Arthur had such an amazing voice. He had been a little worried about the future of the band with Liz’s departure, but all of those worries evaporated blown to dust by the sheer perfection of Arthur’s voice.

Alfred knew his song word for word; he knew every chord change and every nuanced subtle meaning in each line. He knew it note for note and phrase for phrase, but for the life of him in this moment he couldn’t tell you a single word in the song. In Arthur’s hands, it was a completely different song. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that it was so beyond what he had intended it to be, but it was out of Alfred’s hands now. As he listened to Emerald weave his own poetry into the lines he had written Alfred fell for the mysterious Brit all over again. He has swept along in a tidal wave of appreciation, enjoyment, and awe. The talent of the people in that recording room was nothing less than astounding. Alfred wanted to savor every syllable every rounded vowel and held note, but instead, he found himself so floored that before he even realized it the song was over. The instruments were drifting out as Arthur held that final. His tone was perfect and not the slightest quiver from the exertion of the extended note slipped into his voice.

That was awful. They had just recorded his song and Alfred was so wrapped up in his admiration for the band and Arthur in particular that he had missed it. He had actually been so caught up in the feeling of the song he hadn’t even really listened to it. How was he supposed to give them notes if he couldn’t even remember what they had done? He had just enough sense to slide the headphones off his ears and pull himself together before the six musicians walked in through the connecting door. They were all chattering animatedly to one another. The chemistry between the group was more than a little intimidating. How would he ever be able to join their special little world when he was already so far behind. 

“That was very good fellas I’m not even sure you will have to record it again,” Liz said as she walked into the room ahead of the five boys who had been performing the song. “I’m so proud of my boys.”

“I’m not sure what you are even doing here Liz being in there could have compromised the integrity of the recording,” Lovino said glowering at the tall girl. 

Liz for her credit didn’t back down from the glower. “I’m here for moral support of course.” She said looking as if that was obvious.

Mathew giggled. “Which means that Roderich is out buying a new suit.” He whispered making most of the others present laugh.

Francis was next to speak. “That man takes longer to shop than I do and I look tres fabulous in comparison.” He said with a toss of his hair. 

Arthur scoffed. “Can we please get back to the song? I think we have the levels on all of the instruments pretty well set, but we will have to do at least one more recording. I completely buggered up the bridge. I have a much higher regard for Liz after this. How you always manage this without autotune is nothing less than amazing Liz.” He said with a fond smile at the girl.

“I don’t think you need any autotune at all, you were perfect.” Alfred quickly covered his mouth with his hand. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

He felt incredibly stupid as those green eyes turned to him. The whole band seemed to have not really noticed he was there until he spoke. He had a moment to wonder if that was the way it always worked before he was totally shaken from his thoughts by five people barely containing laughter and one very confused looking Brit.

“Well that is very kind, lad, but this is your song and my first song on lead vocals we should want it to be perfect and that was certainly not, but don’t worry I promise it will get better.” He said with a small smile. “It is nice to see you conscious Alfred; you gave us quite a scare yesterday.”

Oh God, he was perfection. Emerald, Arthur Kirkland had actually said his name he could die happy. Or he could have before his Japanese friend punched him hard enough to leave a bruise to break him out of his Arthur induced stupor. “Ow!” 

Alfred rubbed his arm a bit. He was sure to have a bruise there tomorrow. “Sorry.” He said turning to his friend. “Everyone this is Kiku my best friend since sixth grade Kiku this is . . . well everyone.” He smiled a bit unsure. He pointed each person out in turn. “This is of course Elizabeta Héderváry. She is stepping down as lead singer but still very invested in how this transition goes. This is Francis of course also known as sapphire, and Gilbert, and Mathew, Oh and Antonio is new he is going to be taking over bass for Arthur. And then of course there is Arthur who will be . . .” He had to pause it was still such a shock to think about even after he had heard it. “Who will be performing my song. That will take some getting used to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to my beta magicalaud for helping me with grammar and brain storming. It was a huge help while I worked through my writers block on this chapter. I am still always open to constructive criticism or praise. 
> 
> I would like to remind everyone that this verse is open for prompts if there is anything in particular you would like to see leave a comment and I will probably make a spin off for prompts in this verse. 
> 
> As always thank you in advance.  
> Winter_Storm


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